Momentum weakened for Assad’s ouster in Syria WASHINGTON (AP) — Foes of Syrian President Bashar Assad are distracted by fragmentation within their ranks, foreign meddling and new finger-pointing over chemical weapons as the regime more firmly entrenches itself, giving no sign of stepping down any time soon. With the two-year civil war slogging on, the United States appears closer than ever to sending military support to Syrian rebels in hopes of breaking the bloody impasse that has left m...

California farmers team up to convert beets to ethanol FIVE POINTS, Calif. (AP) — Amid the vast almond orchards and grape fields that surround Five Points in California’s Central Valley, a once-dominant crop that has nearly disappeared from the state’s farms is making a comeback: sugar beets. But these beets won’t be processed into sugar. A dozen farmers, supported by university experts and a $5 million state grant, are set to start construction of a Fresno County demonstration plant that will con...

Hitler joins gun debate, but history is in dispute When the president of Ohio’s state school board posted her opposition to gun control, she used a powerful symbol to make her point: a picture of Adolf Hitler. When a well-known conservative commentator decried efforts to restrict guns, he argued that if only Jews in Poland had been better armed, many more would have survived the Holocaust. In the months since the Newtown, Conn., school massacre, some gun rights supporters have repeatedly compa...

Saplings from Anne Frank’s tree take root in US INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Saplings from the chestnut tree that stood as a symbol of hope for Anne Frank as she hid from the Nazis for two years in Amsterdam are being distributed to 11 locations in the United States as part of a project that aims to preserve her legacy and promote tolerance. The tree, one of the Jewish teenager’s only connections to nature while she hid with her family, was diseased and rotted through the trunk when wind and heavy r...

Analysis: Budget balance is in eye of the beholder WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to budgets, balance is in the eye of the congressional beholder. To House Republicans, it means a balanced budget in a decade, achieved by $4.6 trillion in spending cuts and without any tax increases. To Senate Democrats, it means a balanced plan, about $975 billion in higher taxes and a spending reduction of about $875 billion, not counting cancellation of $1.2 trillion in existing across-the-board-cuts. That m...

Pennsylvania caretaker charged with drinking old whiskeyGREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Fifty-two bottles of well-aged whiskey disappeared between his lips, police said, and now it’s time for a western Pennsylvania man to settle up. John Saunders, the former live-in caretaker of a Pittsburgh-area mansion, faces criminal charges for allegedly drinking more than $100,000 worth of the owner’s whiskey. Owner Patricia Hill found nine cases of whiskey hidden in the walls and stairwell of the century-old Georgian ...

Feds raid 17 California businesses for nitrous oxide LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of law enforcement officers on Friday raided Southern California auto parts shops and other businesses suspected of illegally selling nitrous oxide for use as a recreational drug, in what federal authorities said was the nation’s largest such raid ever. Authorities served search warrants on 17 businesses and nine delivery vehicles during the simultaneous raids in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. Edward Va...

Woman sets fire to snake, which sets fire to Texas home TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) — Authorities said a northeast Texas woman recently learned a hard lesson: Don’t try to kill a snake by setting it on fire. The woman was cleaning the yard outside a home near Texarkana on Wednesday night when she spotted a snake. Bowie County Sheriff’s Capt. David Grable said she poured gasoline on the snake to try to kill it. Her son then dropped a lit match on the snake. The engulfed snake slithered into some brush nea...

3 dead, including suspect, in Marine base shooting QUANTICO, Va. (AP) — A Marine who worked at a rigorous school that tests Marines who want to become officers fatally shot two of his colleagues before killing himself in a barracks dorm room. The three Marines — two men and a woman — were part of the staff at the officer candidates school on the sprawling Marine Corps Base Quantico in northern Virginia. Their relationship and whether they knew one another was not clear, though military officia...

Texas shootout may tie to Colorado prison chief death DECATUR, Texas (AP) — The black 1991 Cadillac slammed into an 18-wheeler hauling gravel on a rural four-lane road in the North Texas prairie. Its driver, a Colorado parolee and member of a white supremacist prison gang, bailed out and opened fire on the deputies chasing him. Evan Spencer Ebel, 28, was shot in the head and died. From the wreckage comes a mix of clues and speculation that tie together two shocking Colorado killings and could she...

Groundhog Phil a furry felon over false forecast CINCINNATI (AP) — A shadow of a different kind is hanging over Punxsutawney Phil. Authorities in still-frigid Ohio have issued an “indictment” against the famed groundhog, who predicted an early spring when he didn’t see his shadow after emerging from his lair in western Pennsylvania on Feb. 2. Spring arrived Wednesday, and temperatures are still hovering in the 30s in the Buckeye state and much of the Northeast. While it’s not the coldest spr...

FAA to close 149 air traffic towers under cuts CHICAGO (AP) — Under orders to trim hundreds of millions of dollars from its budget, the Federal Aviation Administration released a final list Friday of 149 air traffic control towers that it will close at small airports around the country starting early next month. The closures will not force the shutdown of any of those airports, but pilots will be left to coordinate takeoffs and landings among themselves over a shared radio frequency with n...

Reid: Background checks will be in Senate gun bill WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats who vowed a crackdown on guns after the horrific Newtown, Conn., school shooting are touting prospects for Senate passage of expanded federal background checks, even as they acknowledge there isn’t enough support to restore a ban on assault-style weapons. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday that a measure likely to be debated in his chamber next month will include tougher laws and stiffer sentences for g...

Review: March Madness online not for cord-cutters NEW YORK (AP) — Finding March Madness basketball games online is easier this year, but watching them isn’t if you’ve ditched your cable or satellite TV service. This is good news for most Americans — those who pay for cable or satellite service. If you already get the Turner channels — TNT, TBS and TruTV — on television, you should be able to watch live video of every game for free on computers and mobile devices. But last year, Turner gave th...

The cash register rings its last sale NEW YORK (AP) — Ka-ching! The cash register may be on its final sale. Stores across the country are ditching the old-fashioned, clunky machines and having salespeople — and even shoppers themselves — ring up sales on smartphones and tablet computers. Barneys New York, a luxury retailer, this year plans to use iPads or iPod Touch devices for credit and debit card purchases in seven of its nearly two dozen regular-price stores. Urban Outfitters,...

Yellowstone bison hunt takes most since ’89 BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Hunters killed more wild bison migrating from Yellowstone National Park this season than they have in decades, with the numbers driven by strong participation from American Indians who harvest the animals under longstanding treaty rights. Roughly 250 bison have been killed this season after leaving Yellowstone for low-elevation winter range in Montana. Combined with a mild winter, the means there’s unlikely to be a repea...

Late night: Senate Democrats work to pass budget WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats neared approval of their first budget proposal in four years on Friday, calling for almost $1 billion in tax increases over the coming decade while sheltering safety net programs targeted by House Republicans. The Democrats also would reverse automatic spending cuts that are beginning to strike both the Pentagon and domestic programs. The nonbinding but politically symbolic measure caters to party stalwarts o...

Techie fired after tweeting about men’s comments SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A female developer was fired after tweeting about a group of men she said were making sexual comments at a computer programming conference, fueling an already vigorous debate about gender equality and culture in Silicon Valley. Adria Richards wrote on her blog, butyouareagirl.com, that she was seated in a ballroom at the Santa Clara conference Sunday when the men behind her started talking about “big dongles.” A dongle ...

Air France: Man found in cockpit not an employee A 61-year-old French man was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and charged with impersonating a pilot after airline officials found him in the cockpit of a plane scheduled for takeoff, police said Friday. The crew of a US Airways flight bound for West Palm Beach, Fla., found Philippe Jernnard of La Rochelle, France, in the jump seat behind the pilot on Wednesday evening, removing him after he was unable to produce valid credential...

Hunger strike hinders DC murder trial plans WASHINGTON (AP) — The already-bizarre criminal case of a slain German socialite and journalist has been brought to a virtual standstill by her husband’s refusal to eat, which has left the defendant unable to sit or stand on his own and at risk of death. It’s the latest twist in the case against Albrecht Muth, a fellow German expatriate whose behavior has ranged from odd to obstructive since he was charged with the killing. Muth, nearly a half-...